Blister in the Sun
"Blister in the Sun" is a 1983 song by the Violent Femmes. This tradition is a staple of both West and East campuses, and has only recently spread to Davidson. It has been a tradition at Kansas since the campus's first TIP dance.
How It's Played; How It's Danced
At West, "Blister" is played near the end of every TIP dance, though never the last song, as that is reserved for "The Time Warp."
At East, it is the first traditional TIP song played, kicking off what is sure to be an excellent dance just as the sun goes down.
The dance is a simple twist that involves simple clapping patterns and, during one verse, being very, very low to the ground. During the first verse when the snare drum is played at the end of a line, the dancers will clap twice, pause, and clap twice again, following the hits of the snare. During the third verse, the singer sings quieter and quieter with every line. Near the end, during the verse where the song is whispered, TiPsters began to lower themselves to the ground accordingly. For the duration of the whispering, TiPsters also whisper the lyrics and get lower and lower to the ground. As soon as the song goes back to full volume, the dancers jump and begin dancing at a normal height for the remainder of the song.
In recent years, it has become common for TiPsters to stand in large circles with their best buds for the first half of the dance, then, as soon as the whispering verse ends, jumping up and swarming their own circles with swing-dancing, etc.
This is, of course, a bastardization of the grandeur that should be a full-fledged rush to the front of the Circle Quad. Younger generations of TIPsters fail to realize that Blister in the Sun and Brown Eyed Girl are just as much official TIP songs as American Pie and Time Warp.
the 2007 Controversy
At Duke East Term 1 2007, Zach refused to play "Blister" during the first dance. A group of 4th years began to scream the lyrics to the song whilst the last slow song played. Zach leaned over to the microphone and pronounced, "Blister is dead." There was an outrage, and the rest of the night, the 4th years played "Blister."
The next day, a group of altruistic fourth years created flyers exhibiting the "TIP Commandments" #47 and #49...to play "Blister in the Sun" at every dance and to form an inner circle of fourth years during "American Pie." On the Thursday before the next dance, many fourth years posted the flyers in Bassett, Brown, and Alspaugh. At the next dance, "Blister in the Sun" was played, and an inner circle of fourth years was formed after first forming one large circle.
They do not play "Blister in the Sun" at Texas. Or at least they didn't Term I 2008.
Lyrics
When I'm walking I strut my stuff,
Yeah I'm so strung out. clap clap, clap clap
I'm high as a kite,
I just might stop to check you out. clap clap, clap clap
Let me go on
Like I blister in the sun!
Let me go on
Big hands, I know your the one!
Body and beats, I stain my sheets, I don't even know why. clap clap, clap clap
My girlfriend she's at the end,
She is starting to cry.
Let me go on
Like I blister in the sun!
Let me go on
Big hands I know you're the one...